On 21 August 1860, the British army was assaulting the heavily
defended North Taku Fort and were being held up by the
defenders.

The British Artillery managed to open a small aperture in the
wall large enough for a single file of men to pass though.

Lt Rogers and Private McDougall of the 44th East Essex together
with Lieutenant Edmund Henry Lennon of the 67th Regiment swum
the ditch surrounding the fort and entered by one of the
apertures during the assault, and were the first of the British
established on the walls.

They passed
through in the order listed above, each assisting the other to
mount the embrasure by sticking their bayonets into the wall.

Lt Rogers was severely injured by a
musket ball on entering the fort but continued to fight until
reinforcements arrived on the wall.

The VC was presented to Private McDougall
by Brigadier Adams on 2 October 1862